“Curse of the Gods?!” Fir’Ath almost shouted as he stared at Serephus and Maragarn. “Blasphemy I say,” he exclaimed and spat on the floor of the tent.

Before a move could be made by anyone to his outburst, Fir’Ath took a step towards the two Satyrs. With his head held high Fir’Ath, obviously overcome with emotion, spat questions at them in quick succession.

“You mean to walk with the Elves? The same elves who abandoned you in your time of most need? Why? Because you see them as the Master Race and us as cursed? To shed shame?! For what deed?! To the fire I say with that! For what has happened to you…to me…to my people...this is not a curse but a blessing by the forces of nature, a force setting things straight.”

Charon suddenly felt very hot and light headed. He started to pull his satchel off of his shoulder and noticed that the tent was beginning to spin. "What an odd thing for a tent to do," said Charon as the ground rose up to meet him.

Eswarth looked behind himself to see Charon crumpled in a pile on the floor of the tent. Somehow his satchel had come to rest on top of his head. Collinsworth had tumbled out and landed beside him. For a moment it looked as if Charon's head had had fallen off his body.

Maragarn looked at Fir'Ath sharply and said, "Fir'Ath, it is not the elves that need to have proof of value of my kin...it is ourselves. The elves never abandoned us...we abandoned them. And you are right, the change in what we were as people is a blessing...not a curse."

Maragarn held his arm out to Fir'Ath hoping he would take it into his own as a sign of unity between them.

Fir’Ath looked taken aback by Maragarn’s response, perhaps as if he didn’t expect it to agree with his own ideology. After a moment he looked upon him with what could only be newfound respect.

“Proof of value?" he asked in disbelief. He looked about the room at the other satyrs and said, "look no further than outside this tent and the community around you. Not one man, woman or child in your clan turned their eyes from me in shame or fear as we rode in. Not one of them had the rapidly-beating heart of prey, nor the readiness to spring and flee. This is a proud race my friend, a warrior race, waste no time seeking redemption or acceptance from any kind not your own,” he said with sincere ferocity, but still did not take his hand.

Instead Fir‘Ath put his own hand up to block the gesture. “Save your hand Maragarn for a time when my people seek it. Let the gesture mean something when and if the future I see forthcoming intercepts us on our journey. For then, our people may then have the need to ally with one another as warrior brothers, to fight a greater evil.”

Eswarth clopped around, spinning in place, his long black tail flicking in irritation. He knelt down upon his front knees, leaning low over Charron. This little human was cold and clammy. Su'tharc had said that when a human was cold, it often meant they were ill. Of course, the Elder had said the same about when they were "too warm". Nonetheless, some warm stew would likely do Charon well...trouble was: Eswarth didn't have any stew.

Eswarth drew open the stopper to his water bottle and splashed some of the liquid onto Charon's brow while he spoke.

"Pride is good until it becomes arrogance. Fear is also your ally, until it becomes foot-binding. Do not be so quick to slap a friendly hand away, but be even less quick to ignore a friend in need." There was clear displeasure in his voice as he spoke and tended to Charon.

(OOC: Charon is actually startlingly cold to the touch, very much like a corpse.)

Charon's eye's fluttered open. "E-E-Eswarth? Are we out of the Satyr village yet?" Charon looked around, immediately realizing where he was. "Oh," he exclaimed simply. "I guess I, I must have fainted." He wiped the water off of his face, glanced curiously at his wet hands, sniffed them, and with a relieved expression dried them on his pants. "Well, if they are not going to kill Fir'ath then I should like to get going immediately. Unless there is some other matter keeping us here?"

"I don't know yet the status of things." Eswarth admitted, turning to look upon the other Companions and those members of the small satyr tribe that were in attendance. "Why don't you sit and rest while we figure that out? Close your eyes...would you like something to eat?"

Caught up in the discussion with Fir"Ath, Maragarn paid little attention to Charon not really understanding his situation.

He lowered his hand in disappointment and said to Fir'Ath, "Someday I will tell you of my kins history...maybe then you will understand what you do not see now. As we are both children of the Sky-Change I see you as a cousin to us...and one that walks a similar path."

He looked around the room at each person assembled in the tent. "Perhaps I am the one who is confused. Your race is obviously strong and I am just not sure why time is wasted on concern over petty sentiment."

Serephus nodded at the human in understanding. He turned to his son and his visage hardend a bit.

"You've been tested Maragarn, and you've passed. This was however, only the beginning. You've always held your close your beliefs and strong your convictions. You will be the one to bare our story and restore our honor. It will be your burden to shed our shame, that we may walk once again wtih our elven cousins, and hold high our heads."

I just want to explain a bit OOC why Fir'Ath is acting the way he is. The statement Serephus made above (page 6 of thread - and specifically the last sentance of above quote) set him off on a bit of anger. Fir'Ath believes, from the short time he has known Maragarn and the very brief time he has been exposed to the Satyr people (his observations on the ride in), that the Satyr race is FAR superior to that of the Elves.

He strongly believes that Serephus' sentiment in regards to the Elves is absolutely and unforgivably foolish. (a.k.a. Serephus is a weak leader)

The history of the Satyr, if it's not posted... I'll look around... They were once Elves. They were a tribe who worshipped some god whom I forget, and routinly sacrificed goats to him.

With the emerald dawn, when the gods blinked into existance, that god was displeased with this ritual slaughter of animals in his name, and punished them by turning them into what they are now. At some point Elhonna (sp?) stepped in and took them in as her own, but left them as Satyr so as not to anger the other guy.

So you see, they're no longer Elves as a punishment. Now, Maragarn's grandfather was the high priest who conducted these sacrifices, so many of the older members of the tribe blame him, while some still look to him for guidance... But ALL believe they are living out a penance, and still think at some point, the debt will be payed, and their Elven forms restored.

Serephus doesn't believe this and has embraced being a Satyr, as has Maragarn and his Grandfather.

The shame they are talking about is that of angering a god, which DID happen and IS real, even if it's self imposed.

Most of the world just says "Hey look, a race of the dawn" whereas some of the older races know the story... The Satyr, being the ones who were punished, sometimes feel shame, as they expect to be shunned by races of the other god there, as well as any who may know the whole story.

Maragarn's charge is to show those who believe the "punished race" to be inferior that they are not. It's not just a silly belief that they'd be shunned, because there ARE tribes of elves who know the story, worship that first god, and look down on the Satyr for having angered him.